Saturday 9 August 2014

Rich and Good. Yum!

I was on Facebook reading a complaint about some pretty rainbow cakes when suddenly I remembered a nice green swissroll a tutor bought us during a tutorial 6 years ago. 

I recalled that she mentioned the name of the confectionary selling it: Rich and Good.

So I googled 'Rich and Good' and came to a HungryGoWhere page, where I read 10 pages of review on the shop.

Most of them commented that the swissrolls that come in multiple flavours were great but the service was atrocious.

I decided to venture into the tiger's den anyway, on a Tuesday.

First, I called up the shop and checked if they would have enough swissrolls if I got there at close to 5pm. The auntie who answered the phone said,"Plenty of cakes! Plenty today! We open until 5.30pm or 6pm. Give us a call if you come after 5pm."

So I took a train down to Bugis MRT, walked past Raffles Hospital, found my way to Mosque Sultan and was guided to the shop by the aroma of cakes.

It was a typical small shophouse. A man in his forties or so was packing the long and thin swissroll boxes at the doorstep.

As I was there at about 4.45pm, there was just a short queue. There was no customer in the shop when I first reached. As I was trying to make a quick, final decision on what to get, a few customers started strolling in.

The lady manning the counter was a younger lady than the one over the phone. She looked somewhat in her late twenties or early thirties and spoke grammatical English. Polite too (phew!).

Another lady came forward to help pick out the swissrolls as the younger one keyed in the order and collected money.

Took a quick sheepish shot of the price list

The reviews raved about the durian, mango and kaya flavours. Some mentioned strawberry but none of us was really a fan of strawberry flavour.

I went there, determined to buy just two swissrolls: durian (for Coco and William) and kaya (for a taste of nolstagia and its goodness). However, as I was outside the shop, a lady who was undecided at first told her friend that she would buy "chocolate lah, chocolate."

As I stood before the lady at the counter, I said,"I want durian, kaya, mango ... 2 kaya, and a chocolate."

So I ended up carrying 5 swissrolls home!

The swissrolls come uncut.

The lady before me did enquire if they could cut the swissroll for her but was turned down,"We don't have enough manpower." I think they were also aware that if they cut for this lady, the people in the queue behind the lady would also request for the cutting.

Well, so I cut them myself. I learnt a new thing though. Next time if there are not too many people, I will ask if they could cut for me!

Chocolate flavour

I personally think it quite ordinary. The sponge is denser and tighter, just like its other counterparts in the shop. Other than that, you get fresh cream chocolate among the layers. But Baby was only willing to eat this since she loves chocolates and sweets.

Mango flavour

Ohhhh ... how I love this! I had thought that the best had to be kaya, but mango stole its limelight. Before I tried mango, I already had my dinner, 1 slice of durian swissroll and 2 slices of kaya swissroll, but this, I devoured half the roll! It was really good! The mango slices were mainly at the bottom of the swissroll and they were just nice, lightly sweet with just a very tiny tinge of the usual mango sourness.

Totally love it!

The next day, I finished up the other half of the swissroll! Just heavenly! Will definitely buy it again!

Durian flavour

I don't eat durians. And it has nothing to do with my nationality! When I walk past a place that emits durian smell, I would think that it is the smell of rubbish if I don't see any durians! You have to admit they do share some similarities in terms of smell. And then it's such a mess when and after you eat it. The awful smell that lingers in your mouth and fingers, and when you burp ... oh!

I tried the durian swissroll anyway since everyone raves about it.

I classify it under 'eatable without the overpowering smell of durians'. I gave some to my neighbour who loves durians and she said she could smell the 'fragrance of the durian' when her daughter was eating it.

The sponge is the same vanilla sponge as they use for mango swissroll and cream, fresh cream.
Like how they make the mango swissroll, the durian slices were stashed mostly at the bottom of the swissroll.

Perhaps if I am a durian lover, I would love it :) Until then, I won't buy another durian swissroll.

The star, kaya flavour!

The sponge is dense and the kaya firm and sweet in moderation. 

Although the one in your memories always tastes better, I think the kaya swissroll does not disappoint. The kaya was rich and the cake was good and fluffy soft!

The kaya emits a fragrant kaya aroma before you put it into your mouth. Like all the other swissrolls sold in the shop, it does not collapse when you cut it. The cakes also do not stick a mess to your knife like some poor-quality ones do.

Will surely buy this again too!


Where to go:

Rich and Good Cake Shop
24 Kandahar St, Singapore 198887
6294 3324

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